The Royal Reserve Regiments were

reserve Reserve or reserves may refer to: Places * Reserve, Kansas, a US city * Reserve, Louisiana, a census-designated place in St. John the Baptist Parish * Reserve, Montana, a census-designated place in Sheridan County * Reserve, New Mexico, a US vi ...

infantry and cavalry regiments of the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

in existence from 1900 to 1901. The

Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sout ...

broke out in

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in October 1899. By December, the British army had seen several defeats in battle, and was unable to lift the sieges of

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, Mafeking and Kimberley as fast as had been communicated to the public. The government realised they needed considerably more troops to win the war, and larger parts of the regular army, militia and yeomanry regiments were sent to South Africa. Due to the manpower needs of the army, an appeal came from

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

in February 1900 for ex-soldiers to sign up for Home Defence duties. The following letter appeared in newspapers at the time, signed by Sir Arthur Bigge, Private Secretary to the Sovereign: Shortly thereafter, Royal Reserve battalions were formed from

veteran A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in a particular occupation or field. A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in a military. A military veteran that has ...

soldiers in the United Kingdom for Home Service. Time-expired warrant officers, non commissioned officers and other ranks between the ages of 21 and 45 would enlist for service in the United Kingdom for a period of one year and receive a

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of £22. For the cavalry, those enlisting were grouped into Reserve Regiments named after the different classes of mounted troops, as follows: *Her Majesty's Reserve Regiment of Dragoon Guards *Her Majesty's Reserve Regiment of Dragoons *Her Majesty's Reserve Regiment of Hussars *Her Majesty's Reserve Regiment of Lancers For the infantry, these Royal Reserve Battalions were grouped into Royal Reserve Regiments, with the following titles: *

Royal Guards Reserve Regiment The Royal Guards Reserve Regiment was a reserve formation of the Household Brigade in existence from 1900 to 1901. History and strength Due to the manpower needs of the Second Boer War, several Royal Reserve Regiments were formed from veteran s ...

*Royal Home Counties Reserve Regiment (2 battalions) *Royal Northern Reserve Regiment (4 battalions) *Royal Rifles Reserve Regiment (2 battalions) *Royal Southern Reserve Regiment (2 battalions) *Royal Lancashire Reserve Regiment (2 battalions) *Royal Scottish Reserve Regiment (2 battalions) *Royal Eastern Counties Reserve Regiment *Royal Irish Reserve Regiment *Royal Irish Fusiliers Reserve Regiment Recruiting was enthusiastic, and by the second week of May 1900, 29,000 applications for enrolments had been received, and 14 battalions of infantry had been formed, comprising 128 officers and 15,321 men. In total, 18 battalions were raised, officered partly by those who were already compulsorily in the Reserve, and partly by ex-officers who voluntarily responded to the call "for Queen and Country". Many of the other ranks also enlisted on their one-year engagement from loyalty to the Queen, but quite a number principally joined up to claim the large bounty which was on offer. The men were used for routine duties and ceremonial tasks, for example furnishing the guard at

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, and lining the route for the funeral of Queen Victoria. The task of keeping everyone occupied were reported to be rather difficult, however. The Regiments were disbanded at the end of 1901, when the Second Boer War drew to its close. After the Royal Reserve Regiments were phased out, the

Royal Garrison Regiment The Royal Garrison Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Army that formed in 1901 and disbanded in 1908. The regiment was originally formed from personnel of the Royal Reserve Regiments, a reserve force composed of veteran soldiers for ...

was formed, to relieve regular infantry battalions in overseas garrisons such as the

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es of

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(1st, 3rd and 4th Battalions) and

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

(2nd Battalion). The

garrison A garrison (from the French ''garnison'', itself from the verb ''garnir'', "to equip") is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a mil ...

of the third Imperial fortress, 21-square mile

Bermuda ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = " Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , e ...

, which had been part of

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and linked militarily with a fourth Imperial fortress,

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, until the

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had transferred military control of that province, other than a small defensive British Army garrison for the

Royal Naval Dockyard, Halifax Royal Naval Dockyard, Halifax was a Royal Navy base in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Established in 1759, the Halifax Yard served as the headquarters for the Royal Navy's North American Station for sixty years, starting with the Seven Years' War. Th ...

(from 1902 to 1905, the 5th Battalion, Royal Garrison Regiment]) 'til that transferred to the new

Royal Canadian Navy The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; french: Marine royale canadienne, ''MRC'') is the Navy, naval force of Canada. The RCN is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of 2021, the RCN operates 12 frigates, four attack s ...

along with the

Esquimalt Royal Navy Dockyard Esquimalt Royal Naval Dockyard was a major British Royal Navy yard on Canada's Pacific coast from 1842 to 1905, subsequently operated by the Canadian government as HMC Dockyard Esquimalt, now part of CFB Esquimalt, to the present day. The Royal ...

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in 1905) to the new Dominion government, had included two regular infantry battalions supported by three companies of the

Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps The Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps (BVRC) was created in 1894 as a reserve for the Regular Army infantry component of the Bermuda Garrison. Renamed the ''Bermuda Rifles'' in 1951, it was amalgamated into the Bermuda Regiment in 1965. Formation A ...

, before the Second Boer War (with a third regular battalion added during the war to guard prisoner-of-war camps on the islands of the

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), and in the post war economy was reduced to one. Many of the RGR's members had previously been in one of the Royal Reserve Regiments.

References

{{reflist Military units and formations established in 1900 Infantry regiments of the British Army